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Anticipating strong holiday travel, United said on Thursday that it will offer 3,500 daily flights within the United States in December, the most in any month since the pandemic began. United said it plans to offer 91% as many domestic flights in December as it did in the same month in 2019, though the company’s final schedule could still change. That month, United will debut new direct routes — and restart a handful of others. The airline plans to place an emphasis on flights connecting the Midwest to warm-weather destinations like Las Vegas and Orlando or ferrying travelers to ski slopes. Flight searches for holiday travel are up 16% compared with the same time in 2019, the airline said. “We’re seeing a lot of pent-up demand in our data and are offering a December schedule that centers on the two things people want most for the holidays: warm sunshine and fresh snow,” said Ankit Gupta, vice president of network planning and scheduling at United. United and other airlines enjoyed strong demand this summer because of widespread vaccinations, though the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus slowed that momentum going into the fall. The industry had hoped that corporate travel would restart in a big way after Labor Day, but many professionals have not returned to offices full time and business travel remains down.<br/>

A group of United workers challenging the company's COVID-19 vaccine mandate are trying a bold legal tactic: seeking swift action from a federal judge, rather than waiting months for government agencies to review their claims. Next week, United workers who want religious or medical exemptions will ask a Texas federal judge to temporarily block the airline from firing them or placing them on leave for not being vaccinated. The group, which includes pilots and flight attendants, filed a class action in September, accusing United of failing to properly vet exemption requests. They claim that workers who sought exemptions were subjected to intrusive inquiries, including a requirement that they obtain letters from pastors. United has said the lawsuit is without merit, and that it has seen an overwhelmingly positive response from employees since announcing the mandate.<br/>

At least three Asia-Pacific carriers have made it compulsory for all travellers to be fully-vaccinated before flying, as the region moves towards post-pandemic reopening. The move to only welcome vaccinated travellers come as countries in the region ramp up inoculations. Air NZ on 3 October rolled out what it called its “no jab, no fly” passenger vaccination mandate, requiring all international passenger to be fully inoculated before being allowed to board one of its flights into the country. The requirement, which kicks in on 1 February 2022, comes as New Zealand shifts away from its “zero-Covid” strategy, which aimed to completely eliminate the coronavirus. The shortcomings of this strategy became apparent with the more infectious Delta variant. Justifying the move, airline chief Greg Foran says vaccinations are “the new reality of international travel”, as many of its key markets already require travellers to be inoculated before entering. “We’ve been hearing from both customers and employees that this measure is important to them. Mandating vaccination on our international flights will give both customers and employees the peace of mind that everyone onboard meets the same health requirements as they do.” <br/>

Singapore Airlines is one of New Zealand's longest serving airlines, and it's not just Auckland where it's maintained its link with Aotearoa. Friday marks 35 years of Singapore Airlines flying in and out of Christchurch. On October 8 1986, a Boeing 747-200 touched down at Christchurch International Airport, a very modern aircraft for its time. Not only was Singapore Airlines flight SQ388 the airline's first flight into Christchurch, it was the first from any international long-haul carrier. Initially operating as a weekly service that returned to Singapore via Auckland, Singapore Airlines had grown its services to a daily flight operating Singapore-Christchurch return, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The daily operations, which grew to 10 times a week in peak season, meant not only the people but the products of the Canterbury region were just hours away from anywhere on Singapore Airlines pre-pandemic global network of 135 destinations in 37 countries. Singapore Airlines General Manager New Zealand, Kenny Teo, says he's disappointed COVID-19 has meant the celebration has to be low-key. "To have been a consistent part of the South Islands' history for 35 years is something we are incredibly proud of," Teo said.<br/>

Air New Zealand is operating less than one-third of its usual domestic capacity due to tough COVID restrictions in Auckland and doubts whether a travel bubble with Australia will reopen, the airline's chief executive said on Thursday. "We're running almost 100% outside of Auckland," Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran said. "It's a reasonable network but Auckland is literally two-thirds of the domestic network so it's a pretty significant impact to our business, not having Auckland operating at this stage." The airline has said it is burning through around NZ$25 million ($17.30 million) to NZ$35 million of cash a month due to the lockdown in the country's largest city, which the government says will be scaled back in phases as vaccination rates rise. The Pacific nation was among just a handful of countries to bring COVID-19 cases down to zero last year and largely stayed virus-free until an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant in mid-August frustrated efforts to stamp out transmission. The closure of a quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia is costing the airline another NZ$20m to NZ$25m a month in cash burn. Foran said it was possible the New Zealand government would treat Australia like any other country in the future when it came to testing and quarantine rules, as is being done now.<br/>